Ross, Iím curious what a dual CPI2 install will look like from the cockpit? Besides the nice controller panel youíve shown, would there be individual switches for each CPI (like mags) that would just be turned on prior to starting? What is the appropriate depth of the panel controller (could it be mounted on center tunnel of rv-14)? Also the backup battery youíve mentioned, is this mounted separately and if so how large is it? How often will it need to be replaced?

Ross, Iím curious what a dual CPI2 install will look like from the cockpit? Besides the nice controller panel youíve shown, would there be individual switches for each CPI (like mags) that would just be turned on prior to starting? What is the appropriate depth of the panel controller (could it be mounted on center tunnel of rv-14)? Also the backup battery youíve mentioned, is this mounted separately and if so how large is it? How often will it need to be replaced?

Thanks and looking forward to your new product.

Rob

The panel mount portion is 1.05 inches deep but you'd want to allow about 3.5 inches behind the panel for the serial cables to exit and turn 90 degrees.

Yes, the backup battery is mounted separately. The tray is 4.4 inches tall, about 5 inches long and 2.8 inches wide, the battery is 3.8 X 3.1 X 2.15. I'd replace these at 3-5 year intervals. They are inexpensive Powersonic AGMs widely available on Amazon, Ebay etc.

No, they are completely different animals in almost every respect. The main demands were to take up less panel real estate, ditch the green, protect from OV and integrate a dedicated backup power source so that required all different architecture.

I have all the firewall forward parts two ignitions (IO-360). All I need is a dual CPI2 controller, a dual remote module the battery tray and related wiring harnesses if any. Are you prepared to take orders yet?

No, we are still repeating many of the tests on the production parts as a number of alterations were made from the 2nd prototypes. We don't want to release anything until we're satisfied all goals are met. Otherwise that could just bite us in the butt down the road.

You'll see an announcement here and on a new CPI-2 Page on our site when we're ready to start taking orders. We have quite a waiting list as well and we'll be taking care of those orders in sequence first. You're on that list somewhere but I don't have it in front of me today.

Testing on the production hardware continued this week. Today Barry ran the full system including coils and spark plugs at 8000 rpm for 3 hours and nothing was getting hot to the touch. We'll do some thermal imaging to confirm everything on the board is staying cool.

We'll continue to put more bench running hours on the whole system over the weekend.

He tweaked some code which will cut current draw if the primary battery goes down and added some other software options to cut this further to extend flying time on the backup battery.

Did a bunch of EMI, RFI testing including running the plug wires on top of the controller and next to the programmer. No glitching.

Should be able to run the system on our test engine next week, weather permitting.

Thank you to all the folks who already lined up to purchase a CPI-2. Initial production is almost sold out now. We'll put a larger, 2nd production run of boards in motion before the end of January to meet demand.

Ross - for a non-owner of CPI trying to make the decision about model choice, can you give a quick rundown of the delta between CPI and CPI2 for functionality? What are the differences that would lead to a choice between them?

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